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February 5, 2005

Phony Professor Disowned by Real Indians

Posted by Dave Blount at February 5, 2005 10:00 AM

The sick joke that is Professor Ward Churchill of the University of Colorado is actually starting to become a little bit funny. It took awhile, but his essay vilifying the victims of 9/11 and praising the terrorists who murdered them is turning out to be the loose thread that will cause his whole costume to come unraveled.

The American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council has this to say:

Ward Churchill has fraudulently represented himself as an Indian, and a member of the American Indian Movement, a situation that has lifted him into the position of a lecturer on Indian activism. He has used the American Indian Movement’s chapter in Denver to attack the leadership of the official American Indian Movement with his misinformation and propaganda campaigns.

Ward Churchill has been masquerading as an Indian for years behind his dark glasses and beaded headband. He waves around an honorary membership card that at one time was issued to anyone by the Keetoowah Tribe of Oklahoma. Former President Bill Clinton and many others received these cards, but these cards do not qualify the holder a member of any tribe. He has deceitfully and treacherously fooled innocent and naïve Indian community members in Denver, Colorado, as well as many other people worldwide. Churchill does not represent, nor does he speak on behalf of the American Indian Movement.

Meanwhile, the Colorado State House of Representatives has issued a unanimous resolution condemning Churchill for making "a number of statements and contentions that are deplorable and do not reflect the values of the people of the State of Colorado."

Not that WC doesn't have his supporters. Boker tov, Boulder! offers an eyewitness report of an anti-Churchill rally at University of Colorado that was swamped by pro-Churchill counterprotesters who did their obnoxious best to silence criticism of their role model. Some of the pro-Churchill group reportedly were members of the College Democrats who pretended to be Republicans for propaganda purposes.

With luck Churchill's downfall will be the beginning of some badly needed housecleaning at American universities.